Today in Russian Business – Aug 1, 2008

Moscow, the world’s fifth-biggest exporter of cereals, plans to form a state grain trading company to control up to half of the country’s cereal exports. “When people come and ask me, should I invest in Russia, what I say is: How quickly would you be able to sell whatever it is you invest in? Because if you cannot sell it quickly, you could end up losing it.” Yahoo! Inc. plans to open a representative office in Russia. Russia hopes that the town of Dubna “will turn into a Silicon Valley”, but the technology industry is being “strangled by red tape”. The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service is to propose amendments to the Criminal Code “that would introduce criminal liability for company executives responsible for price collusion and monopolistic activities”, with penalties potentially rising to up to ten years in prison. On Russia’s “severe labor shortage”.